Department of Visual Arts faculty and students participated in this year’s annual Halloween Art & Nature Festival at the Atelier de la Nature in Arnaudville.

Atelier de la Nature is a twenty-five-acre nature reserve and eco-educational campus that aims to inspire people to steward the nature in their own backyards and learn how we can collectively protect these natural gifts for future generations. The 2022 Halloween Art & Nature Festival was a one-day free event to celebrate Halloween, Louisiana's special natural surroundings and planet Earth through art, music, food and science.

This year’s festival theme, “Space,” explored outer-space, macro- and microscopic space, and space inside us. Special guests included NASA Astronaut Dr. Nicole Stott of the Space for Art Foundation, Stanford University Space Origami Engineer Dr. Manan Arya, and award-winning children’s book illustrator Jeffrey Ebbeler. The event brought over 1,000 attendees for a celebration at the intersection of science, art, conservation, and community.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Sculpture Anne Bujold collaborated with second-year sculpture student Chris Decoux, creating a series of three UFOs, which were installed in the crop circle maze. The flying saucers were constructed from decommissioned satellite dishes they removed from an adjacent property and adorned with a variety of upcycled materials, including hundreds of compact discs, pink AstroTurf, Mardi Grad beads, and security camera domes. These glittering, festive UFOs welcomed visitors as they entered the parking area and enticed them to explore the maze.

Associate Professor of Photography Stephanie Paine coordinated with event organizer Diana Lombana to build an on-site darkroom for a pinhole photography workshop. Lombana created thirty low-tech cameras from tin cans. Several workshops were given throughout the day, and participants used these hand-held camera obscuras to capture unique and one-of-kind photographs. Department of Visual Arts photography students Annabeth Mejia and Charlotte Floberg, alumni Brandi Gosserand '22 and Brock Sonnier '22 and volunteer John Spielvogel from South Louisiana Community College assisted in developing these souvenir prints for participants to take home.